Georgia Entertainment got an inside look into Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) world-class backlot, LED stage, and production training facilities.
The completion of Phase One of the backlot is part of a landmark 11-acre, three-phase expansion, making it the largest, most comprehensive film studio complex at any university in the country. This expansion includes two new soundstages, and production design and costume design shops. A next-generation LED volume for virtual productions opened adjacent to the backlot in 2021.
Phase One of the backlot resembles Savannah’s historic district and includes 17 separate street facades and totals over 4,500 sq. ft. of dressed set space. The facades include historic Savannah homes, a cafe, a pub, hardware/antique retail space, a boutique, barber shop, a general-use lobby for a hotel or hospital with an exterior porte-cochère and automatic doors, and a double-height bank with interior overlook on the most East elevation.
SCAD’s LED volumes are also the largest at any academic institution in the U.S., with this cutting-edge XR production technology available fully for student use. Students from top-ranked degree programs in the SCAD School of Animation and Motion and SCAD School of Film and Acting will be among the first in the world actively working and collaborating on LED volumes, taking their filmmaking and storytelling capabilities to new heights.
The enormous expansion at SCAD Savannah Film Studios highlights the significant investment SCAD has made in the futures of the School of Film and Acting, School of Animation and Motion, and School of Creative Technology students. Students from top-ranked SCAD degree programs, ranging from film and television, acting, and production design to visual effects, animation, and immersive reality are collaborating and cross the aisle to use the backlot, soundstages, and LED volume to create industry-ready projects.
